I solve throat and voice problems from the viewpoint of a kineticist.

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Monthly Archives: September 2014

How much time do you usually take to warm-up your throat before singing?(1)5 minutes
(2)30 minutes
(3)Up to or more than 1 hour
The voice is made by using muscles, including the vocal cord, and is considerably similar to sports.
If you compare vocalization with sports, you may be able to figure out which one is best out of the above choices.
(1) 5 minutes might be too short according to how much time there is in a day.
Soon after waking up, you definitely need more time to warm up. This is because the muscles cannot move smooth immediately after resting.
If you do a warm-up in the afternoon or early evening, it may be fine for only 5 minutes. This is only because the muscles of the larynx have already become flexible and mobile.
(2)The correct answer is a 15 to 30 minute warm-up.
This is the same methodology with sports. Most athletes do not do hard training before a game.
(3)People who do a warm-up for around or more than 1 hour, may do so because they excessively use the muscles more often than an average person. Such use will cause really hard muscles around the larynx. Good quality vocalization relies on muscle movement. If the muscles are too hard, it will take more time to warm-up and feel that those muscles are moving smooth and easily.
To be honest, if you do a warm-up for more than one hour the throat will become tired.
If you run more than one hour before a baseball or tennis game, you will surely be tired during the game.
Therefore, I would like you to take less than one hour to warm-up your voice.
When exercising, the blood vessels in your muscles dilate and blood flow is increased. The body has an interesting way of making those vessels expand. ATP is an abbreviation for Adenosine Triphosphate. It is a molecule that is present in every cell, which stores all the energy that comes from foods. ATP gets used up in working muscles, the muscle produces several metabolic byproducts. These byproducts leave the muscle cells and cause the capillaries (small, thin-walled blood vessels) within the muscles to expand or dilate. This increased blood flow delivers more oxygenated blood to the working muscles. Another interesting fact regarding blood vessels and muscles constricting and dilating when exercising, is that the body performs a diversion process. Blood flow from nonessential organs (e.g., the stomach, intestine, and kidney) is temporarily diverted to the working muscles. This action helps increase the delivery of oxygenated blood to the working muscles even further!
In conclusion, I will mention how to properly do a warm-up before singing.
This is the way I recommend you to warm up your throat, gradually comfortable and easily.
Begin by stretching for 5 minutes, focusing on the following areas:I.Turn you head to the right and left
II:Stretch the trapezius muscle
III:Move the thoracic diaphragm forward
IV:Stretch the stylopharyngeus muscle
V:Stretch the pharyngeal constrictors
VI:Dilate between the thyrohyoid bones
VII:Perform rotary movements between the tongue and the hyoid bone
VIII:Slide and dilate the chin
IX:Open and slowly stretch the oral cavity
X:Stretch the lips (i.e., air rinsing)
After these above steps, start vocalizing for 10 minutes.
Note:If possible, I would like you to learn alternative singing techniques and be advised by a vocal coach who has plenty of experience and skills. This is because vocalization techniques do vary, and depend on the time and effort invested. When it comes to singing, there is a lot of individual variations surrounding the individual’s skills and size of the muscles in the throat. Please be careful not to overexert yourself, by using discretion. Also, be mindful that your warm-up should possess the same movements as with natural vocalization when training, because the purpose of these exercises is to get your voice in the easiest most comfortable way in its best condition.

Is it true, “if you see a person’s throat, you can determine if their singing voice is good or not?”
The answer is, almost Yes.
Actually, a good throat shape can indicate if an individual has the potential to sing a song very well. This means, that a good shaped throat does play an important role, because it can control the sound emitted more freely.
Sound is made by the vocal cord, and this also determines the the pitch.
The vocal cord is elongated, contracted, inflated, thinned, and hardened as well as tender. These many forms can be compared to the strings of guitar, reed of clarinet or mouthpiece of a trumpet.
The vocal cord is moved by other muscles, and cannot move by itself. You do need to move the arytenoid cartilage freely, which is located on the cricoid cartilage.
People say that the arytenoid cartilage is similar to the saddle joint, but personally I thought that it appeared more flat when I saw it in a human anatomy laboratory.
The performance of vocalization can be improved, and depends on how the arytenoid cartilage functions.
If I can visually observe the space on the vocal cord I can know what kind of tone color a person has, because it is created in the spatial resonance.

The following photo displayed below is a numbered summary about how the external movements of the throat combined with a good throat shape can influence vocal production.(1)Big throat(2)Can inflate the hyoid bone under the jaw(3)Can inflate under the rear jaw.(4)Can move the thyroid cartilage freely.
(5)Can move lips wide when speaking.

I think that many people often feel good singing when they sing in the bath.
I’ve investigated and surveyed this.
First of all, the most important thing people want to know is their singing is truly good or not.
I don’t think that a miracle happens if you sing when taking a bath, because of the steam, sound or privacy there. Although, the quality of the singing is absolutely needed to have skillful techniques.
I am positive that it is easier to hear the voice when in the bath.
I provide the reason below.(1) Space
Generally the bathroom is tight enclosed space, and usually has no large masses of stuff to absorb the sound. Which in turn makes is easier to be to create a strong echo in the room. Furthermore, the echoed voice can reach your ear faster than in a normal room. This condensed space also makes the voice sound louder and more clear.(2)Humidity
The mucosa of vocal cord is wet in the bathroom, because of the plentiful moisture in the air from the steam. The larynx can get a lot of moisture as well and improve when vibrating.
Even if you have a hoarse voice, you can let out clear voice because the edge of vocal cord fits together more easily.(3)Temperature
The temperature of the hot water is usually on average, about 100 or 104 degrees in the bath. This high temperature produces good blood circulation and has a positive effect on the larynx.
It can improve the kinematic performance, but be aware of the following things:(4) Please don’t be neck-deep in the hot water, when singing in the bathtub.
This heats your throat directly. Possibly loosening the muscles too much will degrade the performance of the muscles.(5) If you get in the hot water suddenly with a cold body, it will make your blood pressure go up drastically fast. Try to get the body warm in advance, that way you can adjust to the temperature with ease.(6)Water pressure
You may get and feel a slight pressure in the abdominal and chest area from the hot water when you get in the bath. This pressure affects your breathing, and does have a favorable effect for the voice when singing.
However, the degree of this varies with each individual.(7)Relaxing
You have time to relax in the bathtub. This relaxing will regulate breathing and relieve your stress in the muscles around throat.
In conclusion, utilizing these tips for singing in the bath can and will make you sing and sound better.

I got the following question from an elite voice adviser:
“I do abdominal training and workout everyday, does this daily hardening of the muscles around the throat have an adverse effect on the voice?”
The answer is: No
Because, the muscles that are moving located in your neck are different from the muscles used for vocalizing.
If you do abdominal training, lying on your back, it will tone the sternocleidomastoid muscle. The muscles surrounding the neck will harden when you go from down to up in your workout, but the muscles of the throat will never harden.
Please rest assured that you won’t get any problems with your voice through muscle training.

Note1:When you are training and you push yourself upright, you are using the genioglossus muscle. This muscle is located close to the breastbone. I’ve discovered that the sternohyoid muscle compresses during this movement.
It is unsure whether this affects the muscles of the throat and voice. I’ll keep investigating.

Note2:Some vocal coaches say, “if you do sit-ups only by lifting your head, you can increase the strength of the cricothyroid muscles.” However, this is not true. Because, the thyroid cartilage and the cricoid cartilage are lifted and floating in the air. During this action, the cricothyroid muscle does not move, even though you are moving the head and neck up and down while doing the sit-ups.
Note3:I have only examined one person who got vocal problems after doing too strenuous of a workout before. After investigating this rare case, I figured out that the sternohyoid muscle and the neighboring muscles of larynx were very hard. I also observed abnormal hardening of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. This patient could not let out his voice due to this hardening. I asked him how did his workout. He explained he did his training while screaming. I am guessing this screaming was to boost adrenaline and create the effect of strength, to assist him in pushing harder.
He strained the muscles of the throat while training and in turn had caused, hypertonic vocalization.

Please be aware of these issues if you plan on doing an extreme workout.

I will now review how the voice relates to specific kinds of drinks, in a series.
This is part 10: Melon and Pineapple
The effects of eating the fruit are not the same as drinking the juice extracted from the fruit. I have focused my research specifically on juice.
How do you feel in your mouth or throat if you eat a melon? How about after eating a pineapple?
If you feel itching in your throat after eating melon or a numbing tongue after eating pineapple, you have to be careful. If you experience either of those symptoms, please be warned about the common allergic affects of melon and pineapple juice.
The melon causes oral allergy syndrome. The pineapple causes proteolytic enzymes and oxalic acid, which is the source of the irritation and numbing problems.
If you do not have these kind of problem, no need to avoid drinking melon or pineapple juice before singing.
This oral allergy is a syndrome, known to be related to hay fever. The allergy causes inflammation in the oral cavity and the pharynx, resulting in the feeling of itching.
Therefore there is a possibility of movement becoming obstructed in the pharyngeal cavity, which is relevant to vocalization.
Regarding the reaction to pineapple, the proteolytic enzymes and oxalic acid melt the tongue mucosa, resulting in numbing of the tongue.
Although this problem does not necessary relate to the voice, it may disturb you when trying to focus while singing.
You should not have the melon and pineapple before singing, just to be safe.
As I mentioned, I recommend you to know your allergic reaction to specific fruits beforehand.
About other fruits, strawberry, kiwi, watermelon, tomato, pear, banana, peach and apple also have the allergic substance. For example: melon is okay but not watermelon, or watermelon is okay but not pineapple, e.g.
Please be aware those fruits as well.

I will now review how the voice relates to specific kinds of drinks, in a series.
Good drinks for the voice:Part9 Orange Juice
The orange is not only ingested in fruit form, it can also be made into juice. There are many types of oranges in the citrus family. Such common types are navel, blood, mandarin, valencia and clementines. Oranges are refreshing and are a good source of vitamins A & C. Many oranges contain seeds. The proper name for an orange seed is, pip. Oranges contain pulp as well, also known as the juice vesicles of the fruit, which hold the juice in the fruit. The pulp has cells which have small membranes, and protect the seeds of the fruit. Having pulp in your orange juice is simply a personal preference, and many people choose orange juice where the pulp has been filtered out. I’ve investigated orange juice with and without pulp, and analyzed how it can relate to vocalization.
Do you feel like you have more or less sputum if you drink orange juice?

Many doctors claim that the content of orange juice encourages us to secret, serous fluid
(also known as serosal fluid). Serous fluid is typically pale yellow or transparent in color, and is contained inside our body cavities, saliva and blood. The saliva is made by the high viscoelasticity of sputum and the serous fluid. Serous fluid also comes from mixed glands, which contain both mucous and serous cells. Serous fluids are known to aid in assisting respiration, digestion, and excretion. The fluid allows the organs to slide without friction across the cavity walls and one another, as they carry out their routine functions. This freedom of movement is vital for mobile organ health.
If you eat an orange or drink orange juice, you will increase the serous fluid in the saliva. The fruit or juice is not overly sticky in the throat and is good for singing.
Holistic medicine uses dry orange peels to stop coughing naturally instead of man made medicine.
I think this is also good for the voice.
On the contrary, there is also opinions that oranges and orange juice increase the viscoelasticity of the sputum. In that case, the saliva can become dry depending on the orange juice. (the percentages and concentrates of the juice available for purchase vary) It very well might increase the viscoelasticity of the sputum if sputum already exists in the throat, thus effecting our saliva.
Unfortunately, I do not know how the content of an orange effects the sputum but some people say, their sputum feels stickier than normal if they eat an orange or drink orange juice. I agree with their statement and believe that to be true.

I will now review how the voice relates to specific kinds of drinks, in a series.
This is part 8: “Alcohol”.
Drinking alcohol is really enjoyable when drank with dinner or at parties.
I have one question: Does your voice gets better if you drink alcohol?
The answer is yes, if it’s little bit, but no, if it’s too much.
The alcohol causes body temperatures to rise and creates good blood to flow.
Therefore, the performance of movement gets better on your vocal cord when you have an alcohol beverage. This is because the act of vocalization is a muscle movement. However, if you drink too much alcohol, the muscles will relax and the performance of movement will suffer. This will also cause the sound emitted to be out of pitch and tempo.
Furthermore, the air from the lungs and your breath will be effected by alcohol as well. Which will dry out the vocal cord and the mucosa.
That’s why, you usually feel more thirsty when you drink alcohol.
Finally, you get a hoarse voice because the vocal cord does not close properly due to alcohol.
If you get this problem, it will become harder to sing a song.
Next, I’ll mention what kind of alcohol affects the voice most.
Ive drank many kinds of alcohol with my friends before, such as beer, champagne, cocktails, wine, sake, whiskey, gin and vodka.
Alcohol refers to the beverage containing the ingredient ethyl alcohol. The only differences are the method of production, flavors added and the total alcohol content percentage.
However, if the drink has carbonation in it, it may make you burp. I don’t want to recommend you to drink alcohol containing high amounts of carbonation before vocalizing.
Furthermore, if you drink the higher-proof alcohol, you will feel a burning in your throat. For this reason, I recommend you to drink the alcohol with or followed by water. If you do not mix or follow with water, you will get a hoarse voice more easily.
Please drink alcohol moderately.